Diplomatic tension between Morocco and Spain on the rise after 8,000 migrants arrived in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta

Located in Morocco’s Mediterranean coast, the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla are part of Spain’s integral territory in continental Africa, bordering Morocco’s territory to the South. As one of the few EU’s land borders with Africa, the two enclaves have traditionally been object of migrant pressure, with many people coming from different African countries regularly attempting to jump the bordering fence between Morocco and Spain and swimming or sailing along the coast. 

Usually, Moroccan and Spanish authorities work together to manage the border flows. However, it is not unusual that some African migrants seeking a better life in Europe succeed in their attempt to cross the border by land or sea, but these do not usually amount to more than a hundred at a time and between 4,000-6,000 throughout the year. Within these attempts, Spanish authorities have been regularly reported to illegally return some of the migrants back to Moroccan territory after they have crossed the border or even of brutal repression to those attempting to cross. For example, fifteen migrants drowned in 2014 at Tarajal beach, after Spanish authorities shot rubber bullets and tear gas at them while swimming towards Spanish shore.

Between Monday and Tuesday, the number of migrants arriving at the enclave of Ceuta from Morocco reached a record, with 8,000 irregular immigrants, including 1,500 minors. Shortly after, Madrid decided to send troops and deploy them to the beach while also assisting some of the people still wading through the water.

Apparently, these unprecedented number of arrivals could be related to the recent diplomatic tension between Morocco and Spain. These differences arised after Madrid hosted the leader of the Polisario Front and President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic Brahim Gali in a Spanish hospital due to conditions related to a covid-19 infection at the request of Algeria “for humanitarian reasons”. Hence, Moroccan authorities would have allegedly allowed the immigrants to cross the border from the Moroccan side without opposing resistance.

On their side, Moroccan Minister of Human Rights Mustafa Ramid stated that “Spain knew the price for underestimating Morocco is high” in response to accusation of not respecting good vicinity.

While Spanish authorities have been reported that 1,500 of the migrants have already been returned, the tension between the two neighboring countries have become more evident. All of which, take place under a context of reactivated conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front and a few months after a Moroccan Minister argued that the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla were “as Moroccan as the Sahara”.